AUSTRALIA’S FINEST HOLES
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDAN JAMES
ROYAL MELBOURNE GC
391-METRE, PAR-4 6TH HOLE (WEST COURSE)
DESIGNED by Alistair MacKenzie, the 6th
hole on the West Course is regularly listed
among the most difficult holes in world golf.
Like any world-class hole, the 6th asks
questions of your ability (and nerve) from the
outset. A large area of heath and sand lies
between the tee and the sharp dogleg right
fairway. Players taking an aggressive line over
the bunkers need to fly their tee shot long and
straight, but not too long so as to run out of
fairway and have no second shot into the green.
The green is another tough challenge. The
smart player will play to keep their approach
under the hole as the putting surface slopes
steeply from back-to-front and players have
been known to take as many as six putts or to
putt off the green into a bunker. E